I found a bunch of dance videos from the girls' little mini showcase at Christmastime.
Sophie took a class that was a ballet, tap, and jazz (plus a little tumbling) combo intro class. She totally loved it (until Covid and we had to start doing Zoom dance which she was less thrilled about).
These next couple are Elise and Ava's tap class. Ava is wearing the black leotard with a skirt on the left at the beginning of the video and Elise is pony tail, black leotard no skirt on the far right. Sadly our seats weren't so great for seeing Elise as much, but she's in there so watch for her too even though we had a better camera angle for Ava.
Kayla took both ballet and tap last year, so she has two dances.
In both it should be fairly obvious which one she is especially the second where I start the video focused right on her. In the first, if you have trouble, she's the one with the black leggings under her pink skirt.
Hope you enjoyed the show! More Christmas in August just before August turns into September.
A beautiful time before the CRAZINESS of 2020 hit us.
Getting out Christmas decorations! They had so much fun helping. They set out the knick knacks and our HUGE collection of Christmas BOOKS!!!
Chris found a lovely tree, nice and big and full, to grace our front window.
Oh, those branches. Just looking at them up close again, the wonderful pine smell is seeping over me.
And honestly, even in August, that smell just makes my soul happy. I have a Christmas spirit essential oil that I totally put on every few months just because that Christmas feel is so uplifting.
Lights on the tree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Decorating. It just tickled me how confused Kolbe looked standing here next to Daddy.
Oldest and youngest decorating together
Look at Sophie go. Grabbed a chair and put some ornaments higher up!
Chris' parents bought me this ornament when we were dating. It's a little Irish girl.
Chris and I met in the Dublin airport on our way over to Austria for a semester abroad. *heart eyes emoji*
The tree is such a beautiful, beautiful way to recall so many beautiful memories and experiences.
You guys, I was so excited to start the Advent journal from Blessed is She. And it was really good. I had a lovely Advent, reflecting on the beauty and struggle of family and really bringing it all to the Lord and working through it all with Him. My heart grew and expanded, just like it always does when I spend time with Jesus, listening more intently and yet, sharing my whole heart with Him, exactly where it IS, not just where I WANT it to be.
The girls' sweet dance studio organized a Christmas showcase that was just the cutest. I love seeing my little girlies dancing and smiling and learning new things!
A favorite book around here at Christmas time is How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The kids love the Grinch song from the old cartoon and they love it when Chris sings it to them especially. Consequently, they also run to him with the book begging him to read it and do his fun Grinchy voices. It's just the sweetest thing to watch and I love getting to sit on the sideline and just bask in the cuteness.
We got to meet some of the reindeer at a local ranch and home supply shop. The kids were pretty fascinated.
A couple of the girls went caroling with a group of kids from church led by our choir director. They really enjoyed singing for others and spreading Christmas cheer.
We have the best realtor. We've been in the house several years, and he sends us Christmas goodies every year. This year they were yummy cookies!!
Chris made the BEST and most moist and delicious brisket for Christmas Eve this year. I asked for brisket for Mother's Day this year because his Christmas Eve brisket was mouth-wateringly good.
Yep, my mouth is totally watering just looking at these pictures. Time to smoke another brisket, babe!!
We joined a new dance studio in January of 2018. It's a Christian dance studio which gave me a bit more peace of mind about the focus of the dancing as the girls get older. Their spring production was Narnia-themed. The recital weaved together aspects of the C.S. Lewis books, The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
The only pictures I got of the girls were from dress rehearsal days. Elise and Ava are taking tap and they were cheetahs in the "Creation" scene.
They were so darn cute.
Kayla is still taking ballet and her group was "evil snow". Basically they were the treacherous snow in Narnia that swept Edmond to the White Witch.
The show was really good and we are excited to get the DVD version so the girls can play it on repeat for the month of July. hehe.
Recital day. Here we are waiting in the audience to watch the girls perform!
Kolbe didn't do so great. I missed some dances, rocking him out in the back to get him to fall asleep which he finally did. Sophie loved it and really enjoyed watching the dances, most especially her sisters' dances, of course.
A few updates on the kiddos (except Sophie who just had a birthday post)
Kolbe
For much of December this boy was on and off sick, but in the times he wasn't, he was decidedly smiley and goofy. Basically his normal self.
Kolbe loves to tackle people, mostly his sisters, which they only appreciate every once in awhile. He also loves hugs, giving sloppy open mouth kisses, and smacking people in the face (which he seems to think is on par with the kissing and hugging.
Sophie got into the cupboard one day and opened up the brown sugar for them. I guess the Christmas goodies all month long weren't enough sugar for them.
He loves snacks and knows where they can be found. He likes to stand at that particular cupboard door whining until he's given something to eat. We taught him the sign for "please" which lessens the whining a little and is really adorable. Especially since he always give his super cheesy grin and jumps up and down with glee when he sees us getting out the crackers or cheerios.
His favorite past time is reading. We find him perched on pillows (and other random objects) and laying on his tummy reading, reading, reading. He reads in a sing-song voice and it's just the cutest thing ever. All of our kids have loved reading but I do not remember so much sing-reading from any of them. He's at it constantly.
My friend from college came for dinner one evening and Kolbe spent the evening flirting with her. She's pretty much the best, so he couldn't have picked a nicer 'girlfriend'.
We got together with Chris' best man and his wife and their dog just before Christmas. Kolbe adored the dog which was really sweet to watch.
Kayla
Our sweet ballerina. She still loves to dance and organizes plays and recitals for her sisters (and herself) to star in.
She maintains an avid love for reading. We generally go to the library once a week and she checks out about 7 chapter books a week. In addition to reading those, she pores over the many picture books that I pick up for our crew. Books, books, books.
Kayla is also writing little stories, memorizing and reciting poems and Bible verses, mastering multiplication facts, and polishing her cursive skills. Additionally she likes to boss her little sisters around and has little patience for them when they have their own ideas. We are working on that aspect a lot these days. All in all, she a sweet, loving 8 1/2 year old full of life and energy and creativity.
Ava
Ava is not always interested in helping out, but boy was she during Christmas season! Every time I went to make up a batch of some kind of goody there she was (usually Sophie too) waiting to help. Chex mix, chocolate peppermint cookies, gingerbread men....
She and Elise also tried out a ballet/tap class during December to see if it might be a good fit for them for 2018, and she was in heaven. She is still her shy self and didn't want to go in at all without Elise, but once she got in and got in her comfortable place, she was dancing with her whole heart and worrying far less about hiding in the shadows and not being talked to.
Ava loves reading and is really absorbing a lot of math as well these days. She and Elise do a lot of school activities together which seems to help both of them enjoy it all the more.
I can hardly believe how much Ava has grown up in the last year, but at the same time, she still has moments where her delicate nature and sensitive spirit show through and make her seem so young still at times. Her development hasn't changed the way she loves to make everyone around her feel loved and special.
Elise
This girl. She's so excited by life and all it has to offer. She has enjoyed singing in choir and learning and making new friends at co-op. Her eyes have a special shine when she is really proud of herself for something. We saw that sparkle often in December.
She built tall towers and begged me to take pictures of her accomplishments. She finally lost her first tooth, which had been loose for quite awhile, but she was so scared that it would hurt that she wouldn't chew anything for weeks with her front teeth. Eventually the tooth came out despite her best attempts to keep it in there hanging by a thread until her 18th birthday.
And when it did, she was one proud little 6 year old.
Her second tooth is loose now, so we are going through the whole loose tooth forever sage once again.
But the smile on her face when she found the tooth fairy's gift under her pillow was just the sweetest. She wanted to shout it out to the whole world she was so thrilled.
She also began memorizing her addition facts (more proud smiles) and is reading better and better each day (more proud smiles). When she chooses to be a sweet little helper, radiant smile. When she picks out an outfit she loves, radiant smile. She is quiet good at finding incredible joy in the very simple, lovely things in life. Except when she's not.
She's still battling some fears and working to move past the trance they temporarily put her in at times. But for the most part, she is a happy-go-lucky, silly, snugly 6 year old.
Chris completed yet another home project.
On the left is the old kitchen sink faucet. On the right is the new one which he installed at the end of December because the old one was leaking.
He's also working on a slow kitchen cabinet re-do. He started by taking off the old dingy knobs and replacing them with lovely silver ones that match the kitchen appliances. Eventually he plans to re-stain the wood to a different shade.
I'm so lucky to have such a handy and motivated guy around the house.
We got a decent amount of snow just before Christmas, so the kids, of course, had to go tramping about in it. It was too fluffy for snowman building, but they had snow fluff fights and made snow angels and just tromped about playing imaginary games and have fun while it lasted.
Kolbe even got suited up and went outside briefly. He sat in it for a couple minutes before getting cold and crying to come back in to the warmth of the house. I don't blame you kid. It's lovely to look at....from my nice warm kitchen.
Some lovely friends sent us this amazing box filled with an assortment of delicious Christmas treats from the Dancing Deer Baking Company. Yum! And yay for sweet surprises.
Chris and I went on a little date to Chicago Pizza just after Christmas. I'm loving going out with him more often than we've ever made time for before. The other sacrifices and finding creative ways to fit it into our budget are totally and completely worth it.
We tried another state food study just before the new year as well.
